Benzene Electron density

Fig. 1. Monosubstituted benzene electron densities (W = CH2 +, D = CHa - . Unparenthesized numbers are x-electron densities. Parenthesized numbers are forma] charges.

X Benzene Benzene Electron density for aromatic and olefinic hydrocarbons... 

The purpose of this eornpuLer project is Lo examine several polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and to relate their electron density patterns to their carcinogenic activity. If nucleophilic binding to DN.A is a significant step in blocking the normal transcription process of DN.A, electron density in the hydrocarbon should be positively correlated to its carcinogenic potency. To begin with, we shall rely on clinical evidence that benzene, naphthalene, and phenanthrene... 

The electrostatic potential map of benzene (Figure 11 3c) shows regions of high electron density above and below the plane of the ring which is where we expect the most loosely held electrons (the rr electrons) to be In Chapter 12 we will see how this region of high electron density is responsible for the characteristic chemical reactivity of benzene and its relatives... 

According to the orbital hybridization model benzene has six tt elec Irons which are shared by all six sp hybridized carbons Regions of high TT electron density are located above and below the plane of the ring... 

The aromatic ring has high electron density. As a result of this electron density, toluene behaves as a base, not only in aromatic ring substitution reactions but also in the formation of charge-transfer (tt) complexes and in the formation of complexes with super acids. In this regard, toluene is intermediate in reactivity between benzene and the xylenes, as illustrated in Table 2. 

Structural parameters and interatomic distances derived from electron diffraction (7) (77JST(42)l2i) and X-ray diffraction (8) studies (76AX(B)3178) provide unequivocal evidence that pyrazine is planar with >2a symmetry. There is an increased localization of electron density in the carbon-nitrogen bonds, with carbon-carbon bonds being similar in length to those in benzene. ... 

The electron density at nitrogen in phenazine is intermediate between those of pyrazine and quinoxaline and the highest electron density on the carbon atoms of the benzene rings is at C-1 (with positions 4, 6 and 9 being equivalent). ... 

These effects can be attributed mainly to the inductive nature of the chlorine atoms, which reduces the electron density at position 4 and increases polarization of the 3,4-double bond. The dual reactivity of the chloropteridines has been further confirmed by the preparation of new adducts and substitution products. The addition reaction competes successfully, in a preparative sense, with the substitution reaction, if the latter is slowed down by a low temperature and a non-polar solvent. Compounds (12) and (13) react with dry ammonia in benzene at 5 °C to yield the 3,4-adducts (IS), which were shown by IR spectroscopy to contain little or none of the corresponding substitution product. The adducts decompose slowly in air and almost instantaneously in water or ethanol to give the original chloropteridine and ammonia. Certain other amines behave similarly, forming adducts which can be stored for a few days at -20 °C. Treatment of (12) and (13) in acetone with hydrogen sulfide or toluene-a-thiol gives adducts of the same type. 

Fig. 10.4. Total 7i-electron density for some substituted benzenes. [From STO-3G calculations as reported by W. J. Hehre, L. Radom, and J. A. Pople, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 94 1496 (1972).]...

The connection between a molecule s electron density surface, an electrostatic potential surface, and the molecule s electrostatic potential map can be illustrated for benzene. The electron density surface defines molecular shape and size. It performs the same function as a conventional space-filling model by indicating how close two benzenes can get in a liquid or crystalline state. 

The electrostatic potential map of benzene conveys the molecule s size as well as its charge distribution in a much more compact manner. The size and shape of the map are, of course, identical to that of the electron density surface, and indicate what part of the molecule is easily accessible to other molecules (the outside world ). The colors reveal... 

There are two other types of critical points, having either one or zero negative eigenvalues in the density Hessian. The former is usually found in the centre of a ring (e.g. benzene), and consequently denoted a ring critical point, the latter is typically found at the centre of a cage (e.g. cubane), and denoted a cage critical point. They corresponds to local minima in the electron density in two or three directions. 

Dipole moments and molar Kerr constants of phenotellurazines were measured (85ZOB846). The results suggest a significant shift of electron density from the benzene rings toward the heterocycle. 

Further evidence for the unusual nature of benzene is that all its carbon-carbon bonds have the same length—139 pm—intermediate between typical single (154 pm) and double (134 pm) bonds. In addition, an electrostatic potential map shows that the electron density in all six carbon-carbon bonds is identical. Thus, benzene is a planar molecule with the shape of a regular hexagon. All C-C—C bond angles are 120°, all six carbon atoms are sp2-hybridized. and each carbon has a p orbital perpendicular to the plane of the six-membered ring. 

Figure 15.3 The six benzene tt molecular orbitals. The bonding orbitals >p2 and t 3 have the same energy and are said to be degenerate, as are the antibonding orbitals tf/4 and 5. The orbitals and 4 have no tt electron density on two carbons because of a node passing through these atoms.

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